Computer systems may include different resources used by one or more host processors. Resources and host processors in a computer system may be interconnected by one or more communication connections. These resources may include, for example, data storage systems, such as the Symmetrix™ family of data storage systems manufactured by EMC Corporation. These data storage systems may be coupled to one data storage system may include one or more data storage devices, such as those of the Symmetrix™ family, that are connected together and may be used to provide common data storage for one or more host processors in a computer system.
A host processor may perform a variety of data processing tasks and operations using the data storage system. For example, a host processor may perform basic system I/O operations in connection with data requests such as data read and write operations. Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units, disk drives, and disk interface units. Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels to the storage device and storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical disk units. The logical disk units neither may or may nor correspond to the actual disk drives. Allowing multiple host systems to access the single storage device unit allows the host systems to share data stored therein.
It is desirable to manage and monitor data storage systems for a variety of different reasons, such as, for example, to obtain configuration data and/or performance data. Performance data may include, for example, data regarding system device usage and throughput, system load. System configuration information may be obtained in connection with a system configuration modification such as, for example, a logical or physical device reconfiguration. Monitoring and related operations for data storage system management may be automated. It may be desirable to have an automated monitoring system that efficiently provides updated configuration data and other information about a data storage system. However, such data storage management is complicated by the fact that modern data storage environments may include multiple and various data storage systems, host computers for communicating with them, and also multiple and various switches. Since there are many manufacturers and vendors of such systems and devices, there is no one protocol or architecture that dominates, and such a system is referred to as heterogeneous.
Installation of such a data storage management system is problematic because of the heterogeneous data storage environment and the size of such environments and geographic dispersion of such systems, which may even be distributed globally, with various systems in various parts of the world. What is needed is an effective, not complicated tool for installing components of a data storage management system for a heterogeneous data storage environment that may serve a global distribution of such an environment.